Contour migration: solving object ambiguity with shape-space visual guidance

A fundamental problem in computer vision is the issue of shape ambiguity. Simply stated, a silhouette cannot uniquely identify an object or an object's classification since many unique objects can present identical occluding contours. This problem has no solution in the general case for a monocular vision system. This paper presents a method for disambiguating objects during silhouette matching using a visual servoing system. This method identifies the camera motion(s) that gives disambiguating views of the objects. These motions are identified through a new technique called contour migration. The occluding contour's shape is used to identify objects or object classes that are potential matches for that shape. A contour migration is then determined that disambiguates the possible matches by purposive viewpoint adjustment. The technique is demonstrated using an example set of objects.